Week in Review

Touching a nerve

Jul 24, 2006

We spend a lot of time covering management issues, particularly the so-called brain drain.

For people who don't know about the federal workforce crisis, it is about the bubble of federal workers becoming eligible to retire. According to most accounts, about half of all federal employees will be eligible to retire between now and the end of 2008, including nearly 70 percent of federal supervisors.

With that in mind, the Young AFCEANs of AFCEA International's Bethesda, Md., chapter approached us earlier this year about creating an awards program that would recognize the good work of younger employees. In recent weeks, we have received nominations for the Rising Stars awards program.

Clearly, we touched a nerve because in the program's first year we received more than 180 nominations. To be honest, that surprised us.

In the coming weeks, our panel of judges will review those nominations and select those deserving Rising Stars. We will recognize them in October.

Based on the nomination pool, the government information technology community clearly has a wealth of exceptional people doing good work, and it is keenly aware of the looming workforce crisis.

FCW investigated efforts by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve a joint data repository on military and veteran suicides. Something as impersonal and mundane as incomplete datasets could be exacerbating a national tragedy.